3 Blue Jays veterans who should join Jose Abreu after surprising Astros release

At long last, the Toronto Blue Jays are finally making moves to shore up their big league roster. At 33-36, 15.5 games out of first place in the AL East, it’s been apparent to many for a while now that the current group of 26 players just isn’t getting it done.

Earlier this week, the Blue Jays promoted red-hot prospect Spencer Horwitz from Triple-A and designated long-time infielder Cavan Biggio for assignment. He was eventually traded to the Dodgers for minor league pitcher Braydon Fisher.

The surprising DFA of Biggio signaled that the Blue Jays were no longer waiting to cut bait on struggling players, regardless of how long they’ve been employed by the team.

On Friday, the Jays once again made it clear that the time for change is now, when they promoted Addison Barger from Triple-A and elected to designate Daniel Vogelbach for assignment. Vogelbach is a popular figure in the clubhouse and it’s obvious the Blue Jays tried for as long as they could to keep him around, but his lack of defensive flexibility and cold bat made him expendable as well.

What’s frustrating for followers of this team is the fact that the Blue Jays should not be done when it comes to cutting bait with scuffling players. The problems go much deeper than just Biggio and Vogelbach, although cutting ties with both of them was a good call to make.

Elsewhere around the league, the Astros made headlines when they released Jose Abreu, who was only in the second of a three-year deal in Houston. Abreu, a former AL Rookie of the Year and MVP, has struggled mightily this year and is statistically one of the very worst players in baseball.

This prompts the question: should the Blue Jays consider following suit? If the Astros were able to release Abreu and eat some of his contract, surely the Jays can do something similar to prove they’re serious about this whole contention thing.